The Study of Roman Britain in a Sixth Form

Extract

There are some to whom Roman remains have no appeal; there are others to whom a fragment of Samian ware is of more value than the Vaphio cups. Both classes are to be pitied. The former are naturally the more numerous; the latter perhaps do more harm. For such an attitude is not merely a sign of a lack of aesthetic sensibility; it tends to alienate people of aesthetic sensibility from the study of antiquities. To tell a person of taste to admire the Corbridge lion as a first-rate work of art simply has the effect of estranging him from the study of Roman Britain altogether.